Visit to Dana Point

 

We are back in June/July 2012, just to keep you straight… Only a few months behind!

After the sad news of the fire, we got to stay at my dad’s place in San Diego for a few more days, and then we drove an hour north to my mom’s condo in Dana Point. We had actually never stayed at her condo before since she only moved there last summer, so it was a fun adventure to explore a new place. My mom’s husband Ken has owned the condo for many years, but when his last child moved out (Max is on a mission in Saint George) they  rented out their big house inland and moved into this two bedroom ocean view condo in Dana Point. Score!

My mom was in the process of renovating (and just finished this last week of September actually), so we got payback for when she came to see us last February and we had her help us paint the whole house. (Just kidding Mom! You still owe us big time!)

The nice thing about cramming 8 people into a two bedroom condo with only one working bathroom (she was gutting the other one when we arrived), is that we were all anxious to get outside as much as possible, and when you are in Dana Point, the weather is always gorgeous.

We played in the pool, went on lots of walks, explored the boardwalk at Dana Point harbor, went to local events, visited Costco, and had some awesome homemade food. Mmmmm…

 

Here are the kids on the patio waiting for my mom to read to them.

 

Which she did, many times over. They love having Luvy read and read and read to them, especially Piggy Pie because she has some pretty awesome voices for that book.

 

We went for some great walks along the beach and through the golf course.

 

Another attempt at a family portrait worthy of putting on the wall… we will try again next year.

 

 

Look at my cute mom!

 

We had one especially memorable afternoon playing on a big grassy field and steep grassy hill at Salt Creek.

 

I love this “Fashion magazine” shot of my mom.

Po was really trying to make it down the hill without falling.

 

And she finally did it!

 

 

Here we are at the library…. Po wouldn’t let me check this book out.

 

Kite flying!

 

California always amazes me with the flower displays… this one isn’t especially verdant, but the rose was “hurt-your-eyes” bright…

 

We had a fantastic 4th of July celebration too! Here we are at a drum circle on Laguna Beach. We also went to a number of street fairs and city celebrations on the day and then had the most excellent spot from which to watch fireworks: my mom’s balcony! We got to see three different resort/city fireworks extravaganzas, all from the comfort of the condo where I could put the kids to bed immediately after it ended. Yay USA!

 

And yes, we got our money’s worth from the condos’ pool. Hooray Luvy and Ken! Thanks for all the fun!